Folding chair



April 1941- E. B. MORGAN ETAL 2,238,817

FOLDING CHAIR Filed Dec. 5, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet l April 15, 1941. E. B. MORGAN ETAL, 2,238,817

FOLDING CHAIR Filed Dec. 5, 1938 I 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 TOR. I'wing1i%Z- an W: 0nd gpymond 6'. fl ooz-e li nea's I M grd-hda ATTORNEYS.

Patented Apr. 15, 1941 UNIITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE FOLDING CHAIR Erving B. Morgan, Grand Rapids, and Raymond G. Moore, Grosse Pointe Farms, Micln, assignors to American Seating Company, Grand Rapids, Mich., a corporation of New Jersey Application December 3, 1938, Serial No. 243,730

6 Claims.

The present invention relates to folding chairs and more particularly to folding chairs of metal construction of the general character illustrated and described in United States Letters Patents Nos. 1,939,596, 1,958,042, and 2,177,186 respectively, issued December 12, 1933, May 8, 1934 and October 24, 1939 to our assignee.

The, primary objects of the instant invention are to provide a chair of the general character above set forth whose seat is independently movable to raised and lowered positions when the chair is in its unfolded position; to provide in such a chair means for positively preventing inadvertent folding of the chair irrespective of the raised or lowered position of the seat; to provide such a chair whose seat is particularly well supported forwardly of its center when in its lowered position for occupancy; to provide such a chair which, when the occupant thereof rises to permit persons to pass in front of him, affords a considerable amount of standing space by merely raising the seat without disturbing the forward seat supports; to provide such a chair which is particularly well adapted for coupling with other chairs of like construction to form rows of joinedchairs; to provide a coupling member for joining a plurality of chairs in such manner that folding of one chair results in like folding of the other chairs to which it is .joined; and, to provide improved friction mechanism which insures quiet folding and unfolding of the chair.

An illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of the chair in its unfolded position;

Figure 2 is a vertical central sectional view thereof on line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view of the link connected front and rear folding" legs of the chair in the unfolded position of the legs, partially shown in section on line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is .a view similar t Figure 3 but showing the parts in their folded positions;

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view of parts shown in Figure 3 in a different relative position; I

Figure 6 is a sectional view thereof on lines 6-6 of Figures 3 and 7;

Figure '7 is a sectional view thereof on line l-'l of Figure 6; V

' Figure 8 is a vertical sectional view on line 8-8 of Figure 3;

Figure 9 is a horizontal sectional view on line ga -9 of Figure 3;

Figure 10 is a fragmentary front elevational view of a pair of chairs coupled together in unfolded positions and showing improved means for coupling two or more chairs together;

Figure 11 is an enlarged bottom plan view of the coupling member and parts of adjoining chairs to which said coupling member is connected; and

Figure 12 is a sectional view thereof on line IZ-I2 of Figure 11. 7

Referring to the drawings in which like parts of the construction shown are designated by the same numerals in the several views, the folding chair generally comprises an inverted U-shaped metal frame I0 forming a support'for' a curved back I I which is preferably of sheet metal. The back is positioned below the horizontally disposed medial portion I 2 of the frame to which it-is suitably secured and to its oppositely disposed spaced parallel portions which form spaced front legs I3. 7

The frame I 0 is here shown as tubular and triangularly formed in cross-section from sheet metal stock to give it strength and rigidity at light weight, the longitudinal edges of the metal stock being flanged inwardly to form a finished and reinforcing seam I4.

The front legs I3 of the metal frame ID are rigidly secured together by means of a strut I5 whose opposite ends pass through the seams I4 in the front legs I3 respectively and through apertures in the opposite sides of the front legs from the seams. The strut I5 is approximately midway between the upper and lower ends of the front legs I3. A brace I6 having its opposite ends secured in like manner to the front legs I3 near the lower ends thereof, is bowed upwardly and secured to the strut I5 medially thereof as by welding.

A pair of tubular metal spaced rear legs I-I,

formed in a manner like that of the frame III, are

, the opposite sides of the rear legs from the seams,

Noiseless feet caps 23 ofrubber or other suitable material are preferably provided for all four legs of the chair.

A bail 24 is provided with forwardly-rearwardly extending side arms 25 whose rear ends have collars 26 secured thereto as by welding and by means of which the side arms are pivotally mounted on the rod 2| and spaced inwardly from the rearlegs H. The forward medial portion 21 of the bail is bowed rearwardly and this medial portion 21 and the forward portions of the side arms 25 are flanged marginally inwardly at their upper edges to strengthen the bail.

A seat 28 is provided near its rear edge with a depending sheet metal mounting bracket 29' secured to the seat as by bolts 30 and nuts 3| and having a depressed strengthening rib 32' in the middle thereof. The opposite ends of the sheet metal bracket 29 are bent downwardly and outwardly and curled to form tubular spindles 33 rotatably mounted in bearings 34 in the side arms 25 of the bail, as best seen in Figure 6.

A- link 35 is pivotally mounted at its rear end on each spindle 33, each. link 35 being provided at its forward end with a collar 36 pivotally embracing the upper forward strut l5. It will be seen that raising of the ball 24 effects, through the links 35, folding of the chair by bringing together the front and rear legs thereof as best seen in Figure 4, and lowering of the bail effects unfolding of the chair.

Each side arm 25 of the ball is extruded at its lower edge to form an elongated semicircular kerf 31 which kerfs embrace the collars 36 respectively in the unfolded position of the chair thus preventing inadvertent'folding of the chair when in its unfolded position.

Pads 38 of rubber, leather or the like are secured as by rivets 39 to the forward ends of the side arms 25 of the ball 24 and the seat 28 rests upon these pads 38 when in its lowered position for occupancy. The seat 28 is thus supported forwardly of its center by the bail 24, and the seat may be raised or lowered independently of the bail. It will thus be seen that the rearwardly bowed formation of both the ball 24 and the brace It provides considerable standing space when the occupant raises the seat and rises to permit persons to pass in front of him.

Collars 40 secured as by welding to the spindles 33 maintain the rearward ends of links 35 flush against the side arms 25 of the bail 24. Friction mechanism iS provided at one side (left hand side in Figure l) of the chair to insure quiet folding and unfolding of the chair. This mechanism comprises a fibre washer 4| circumscribing a spindle 33 as best seen in Figure 6, said washer being held in place by a disk 42 having an axial stem 43 non-rotatably secured as by a key 44 in the hollow spindle 33.

A cover plate 45 for the washer 4| and disk 42 is detachably secured to the adjacent side arm 25 of bail 24 as by a stud 45 on this side arm embraced by the slot 41 of the cover plate and a screw 48 passing through an aperture 49 in the cover plate 45 threaded in this side arm 25. The inner face of the cover plate 45 is preferably provided with a fibre disk 50 secured thereto as by a rivet 5| to further insure noiseless folding and unfolding of the chair. The cover plate 45 may be removed for replacement of the fibre washer 4| as shown in Figure 5 by removing the screw 48, rotating the cover plate upwardly, and finally sliding the cover plate longitudinally off the stud 45-.

Figure 10 illustrates means for coupling together two of the chairs. Conventional clamps 52 secure together the adjacent front legs l3 of adjoining chairs. A coupling member 53 having strengthening marginal flanges 54 is secured to the bails 24 of adjoining chairs by means of bolts 55 passing through apertures .56 in the lateral end flanges 51 of the coupling member and through apertures 58 in the bails 24, nuts 59 being threaded on the ends of the bolts. Preferably and as shown, the apertures 56 and 58 are square and the bolts 55 have squared shank portions 60 fitted in the square apertures to prevent rotation of the bolts. A number of chairs may thus be joined together to form a row and it will be seen that by raising or lowering the bail 24 of one chair in a row the bails of the other chairs in the row may likewise be raised or lowered.

It will thus be seen that the folding chair herein shown and described is rugged and sturdy in construction, economical in manufacture, pleasing in appearance and has improved features over the chairs shown in the patents referred to above.

While but one specific embodiment of the invention has been herein shown and described, it will be understood that certain details of the construction shown may be altered or omitted without departing from the spirit of this invention as the same is defined by the following claims.

We claim:

1. A folding chair comprising a frame forming a back support and spaced front legs, a pair of spaced rear legs pivotally secured to the frame, a bail pivotally connected to the rear legs, means on the front legs for supporting the bail in its lowered position, a link pivotally secured to the bail and to the front legs for effecting folding and unfolding movements of the front legs of the chair relative to the rear legs thereof during the respective raising and lowering move ments of the bail, and a seat pivotally secured to the ball.

2. A folding chair comprising a frame forming a back support and spaced front legs, a pair of spaced rear legs pivotally secured to the frame, a bail having side arms pivotally connected to the rear legs and having a forward medial portion, means on the front legs for supporting the bail in its lowered position, a link pivotally secured to the bail and to the front. legs for effecting folding and unfolding movements of the front legs of the chair relative to the rear legs thereof during the respective raising and lowering movements of the bail, and a seat pivotally secured near its rearward edge to the bail and supported forwardly in its lowered position by the forward medial portion of the bail.

'3. A folding chair comprising a frame forming a back support and spaced front legs, a pair of spaced rear legs pivotally secured to the frame, a bail having side arms pivotally connected to the rear legs and having a rearwardly bowed forward medial portion, means on the front legs for supporting the bail in its lowered position, a link pivotally secured to the bail and to the front legs for effecting folding and unfolding movements of the front legs of the chair relative to the rear legs thereof during the respective raising and lowering movements of the bail, and a seat pivotally secured near itsrearward edge to the bail and supported forwardly in its lowered position by the forward medial portion of the bail.

4. A folding chair comprising a frame forming a back support and spaced front legs, a pair of spaced rear legs pivotally secured to the frame, a bail pivotally connected to the rear legs, a strut interjacent the front legs and serving as a support for the forward portion of the bail in the lowered position of the bail, a link pivotally secured to the bail and to the front legs for effecting folding and unfolding movements of the front legs of the chair relative to the rear legs thereof during the respective raising and lower-' ing movements of the bail, and a seat pivotally' arms, a pair of links pivotally mounted at their rearward ends on said spindles and pivotally secured at their forward ends to the front legs for 5 6. A folding chair comprising a frame formeffecting folding and unfolding movements of the front legs of the chair relative to the rear legs thereof during the respective raising and lowering movements of the bail.

ing a back support and spaced front legs, a pair of spaced rear legs pivotally secured to the frame, a bail pivotally connected to the rear legs and extending forwardly beyond the front legs in the unfolded position of the chair, means on the front legs for supporting the bail in its lowered position, means operably connecting the bail and the front legs for effecting folding and unfolding movements of the chair during the respective raising and lowering movements of the bail, a seat pivotally secured to the bail, and a coupling member adapted for attachment to the forward end of the bail and for similar attachment to the forward end of the hail of a similar chair.

ERVING B. MORGAN. RAYMOND G. MOORE. 

